How the winner is worked out

The rule

• The winner is the lowest bid made exactly once. An amount bid more than once cannot win, even by one person bidding it twice.
• If no amount was bid exactly once, there is no winner. There are no ties, because only one amount can be the lowest unique one.
• A withdrawn bid stays on the published list, so the chain of receipts still covers it, but it does not count. The list says which bids were withdrawn.

The clock

• LO's server clock decides, never your phone. A bid received at or after the closing time is refused. There is no grace period.
• If bidding is paused, the closing time does not move. A bid already accepted is never affected by a pause.

Check it yourself

These test cases have known answers. Any program following the rule must get the same winners: LO's engine and its separate checker both do, every time we build. Download them. Amounts are in hundredths of a birr.

See also the terms.